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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#252: Obsession

The Netflix series Baby Reindeer, inspired by a real-life stalker story, has garnered millions of views over the past month while receiving both critical acclaim and heavy backlash. In the show, a chance encounter between a barman and a total stranger descends into a chaotic tale of stalking, destruction, and mutual obsession. Delving into themes of personal boundaries, power dynamics, identity struggles, and mental health problems, the show depicts some of the complexities and contradictions inherent in human psychology.

Inspired by Baby Reindeer, this week's prompts are an invitation to explore some of the nuances of human behavior. Whether you write a witty story, a heartwarming tale, or something tense and gripping is up to you!

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character being followed.

Dramatic – 99 stories

Write about a character who struggles to do the right thing.

Character – 35 stories

Write a story in which one of the characters is a narcissist.

Character – 39 stories

Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

Dramatic – 129 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Character – 55 stories

Stories

“Cue Ball” by L Key

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #252

Content warning: self-harm, mental health, toxic relationships.HerHis head is a perfect cue ball. Round. Small. Bald. It bobs on the surface of the water, mimicking the gentle waves that swell around him. A frisbee flies and the sea spits out his body. He’s no longer a cue ball; he’s a whale breaching water, airborne and clumsy. He misses. He laughs. He slings the bit of plastic back to his sister.Before I called him ‘husband’, I loved these quirks of his; how he throws his head back when he laughs, that smiling, for him, comes so easily. Bu...

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“The Moment” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #252

“This is your moment,” Professor Urquardt stated.A few heads popped up. A few “attentive” faces tilted as something resembling life infused their features. A few doubled down on their pads in full-on voice-to-text mode.“Your moment.” The Pulitzer and Oscar nominations the University had added unsolicited to the spring catalogue meant little to her bloodless crew of largely Gen Ed Gen-4.0s — most, anyway. But something in Professor Urquardt’s flat, inflection-free, smiling restatement cut through the 9 a.m. fog in a way none of the photograph...

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“Blackwood's Yew Farm” by Martin Maynard

Submitted to Contest #252

Jenna wiped sweat from her forehead and surveyed the cluttered living room. Boxes labeled Kitchen, Bedroom, Studio Equipment were scattered around. The high ceilings and dusty crown molding had a haunting charm perfect for her next YouTube series.“Alright, guys,” Jenna said, adjusting her camera. “Welcome to Blackwood’s Yew Farm, a place so haunted it’s been empty for years! But you know me, here to bust some myths and find the truth.”Jenna panned the camera around, capturing B-roll footage. “The plan is to document everything,” she said, mo...

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“Freddy Feinberg Doesn't Live Up to Expectations” by Lara Temple

Submitted to Contest #252

Wind roared round the corner, shoving cold, clammy hands under my red coat. We’d rushed out of school so quickly I hadn’t had a chance to button up and now I was afraid to let go of Dad’s hand, ripped away by the current of people. Just in case, I kept my eyes on the street signs.I lost count when I saw the man on the other side of Broadway. He was staring at a shop window, a tear in the human flow around him, his milk gray hair sailing side to side in the wind. As we were about to pass, his eyes, also grey, went big and round.‘Burton. Burto...

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“Paxton struggles ” by J. I. MumfoRD

Submitted to Contest #252

Paxton pulled over for the third time, desperately searching the bumper for any sign he might have hit the scrawny tabby he often saw prowling at dusk. But the car was clean, as it had been the last two times.“Going on a hike for my gad-dang mental health.”The trailhead emerged like an oasis of serenity. Towering pines, afternoon sun. A gentle breeze carried the piney scent of the forest, a respite from the relentless noise of the city.The gravel around the visitor’s station sends up a cloud of dust as he parks. Paxton closes the windows and...

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“Never Let It Be Said” by Helen A Smith

Submitted to Contest #252

TW: contains descriptions of gore appropriate to the sixteenth century and there are references to miscarriages. A king does as he pleases and anyone who disagrees is a fool.Wolsey, my lord chancellor, who the pope made cardinal, erred in being too slow to deal with “the king’s great matter” which was how the need to legitimately free myself from my first marriage became known. Thomas More who I promoted to the same position, forfeited his life when he put conscience before obedience to the crown. When Thomas refused to take the oath of succ...

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“Unrefined Thirst” by V. S. Rose

Submitted to Contest #252

“Fresh squeezed today,” the bartender said, slapping the husky steel barrel behind him. He smiled, his hollow features shadowed by the dim pendant lights over the bar.From his stool, Victor looked down the bar counter; he saw the males with their stark white shirts and freshly pressed slacks, shiny hair slicked neatly behind their ears. They mingled with flirtatious females, elegant dresses in midnight blues and wine-colored reds. The guests drank from cups; the liquid’s rousing scent permeated the tavern.Victor’s hands quivered as he watche...

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“Moonlit Hazes” by Alessandra Reginelli

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #252

Crumpling, tearing—the sounds echo through the night as Leon discards yet another piece of paper. It's cold, and clouds hide his beloved behind their faint, shifting veils. He should thank them, since they preserve her beauty from being consumed by Leon’s avid gaze. But he longs to see her, and oh, how madly in love he is.He takes a step forward, and the oak flooring of the balcony creaks softly under his shoes. Leon rests his arms on the railing and looks up into the veiled sky. The stars shine brighter than ever, and the constellations can...

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“The Ball Pit” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #252

The man decided a ball pit was the only place to go. He hadn’t been in one since he was a child. Every Saturday, his father would get to keep him for the weekend as part of the custody agreement. Never having been an imaginative man, his father dispensed with trying to plan engaging activities that he could do with his only son. Instead, the two of them would show up to KidzLand as soon as they opened at eleven and they would stay until closing. KidzLand offered a variety of play areas including a miniature ferris wheel, several large and tw...

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“Möbius Strip” by Herman W Clarke

Submitted to Contest #252

The old man’s eyes had seen too much; the young man knew this, because the skin around his eyes was deep, and dark. The old man’s hands had felt too much; he knew this, because his hands were leathery and pocked full of scars. The man had lived for too long; his crooked and broken posture betrayed this secret even from a distance. The young man had met him at this bus stop every morning for the past three years, and with each year that passed, the old man appeared to have unnaturally aged by five. The young man pitied him, but there was also...

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“The Houseguest” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #252

Percival Smart, Percy for short, had a lifelong interest in Robotics and AI. Not in the same sense that Mrs. Agatha Brown, two doors down, had a passion for award-winning roses, which she tended daily and had memorized all the names of. Percy’s interest couldn’t be described in terms of rose cultivation.If Percy’s interest in Robotics and AI could be defined in terms of mountain climbing, he had climbed Mount Everest more times than Sir Edmund Hilary had done in all the mountain climbing realities and dreams this famous man had ever had whil...

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“Beneath the laughter” by Severine Desrosiers

Submitted to Contest #252

Aiden leaned back into his chair, nursing a beer as he listened to his friend’s banter. They were seated around their usual table in their favorite bar; A dimly lit dive smelling of stale cigarettes and spilled alcohol. Clinging classes and laughter usually filled the air but tonight, the conversation had a sharper edge.“So, Aiden,” Mike said, a smirk playing on his lips. “What’s this I hear about you and Emily? You’re going soft on us man.” Aiden’s jaw tightened, but he forced a casual smile. “What are you talking about?” “He didn’t st...

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“Counterfeit” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #252

Meeting longtime friends from her college days, Bonnie entered the club head held high. She saw pals, Chelsea, Nicole and Eileen sitting in a booth against the back wall. Bonnie’s emotions soared and dove. Navigating her way toward them, she felt drawn like a balloon in the wake of a cruise ship. Friends can be brutal. Would they notice the changes? Would they approve? Could they be honest? ‘Do I want the truth?’She hadn’t seen any of them since before her surgery. This could be an ordeal. Unless one knew, the work she’d had done was invisib...

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“Legendary” by Kael Mans

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #252

TW: Themes of mental health, physical violence, and death Adina Rialto was bored. Twelve months ago, she had been the winningest fighter to come out of the Bruised Knuckles club. Now, no one would fight her. Her phone only rang when her agent had a new brand sponsorship that wanted to use her success for themselves. She’d been competitive from the moment her parents had signed her up for her first sports camp at five. They had been trying to find an outlet for her endless energy. It had kept her busy, but had also cultivated a ruthless...

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“The Beast” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #252

Remember the boy in high school? The beast got you good. So good that you drove past the store where he worked just to catch a glimpse. Back and forth on that busy road in your old beat up car with no air conditioning. Your back was sweaty, and your hair had turned to tendrils around your flushed face. You stood in the drug store across the street turning the spinners of postcards and road maps. Humiliated and embarrassed but unable to move as you watched him load and unload the trucks. No one knew but the ...

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$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

143

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 31, 2024 EST

Won by Danielle LeBlanc 🏆

Title: Seven Hundred and Thirty Days

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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